Asus has announced that its ZenScreen MB16AC portable monitor is now on sale over in the US, where it will set you back $250 (around £200, AU$330).

The idea here is that you can have a slim screen – it’s only 8mm thick and weighs 780g – which can be easily carted about with your ultra-thin laptop to use as a second screen for the likes of presentations, or simply to make you more productive, aping a multi-monitor setup as seen with a desktop PC.

The ZenScreen runs with a 15.6-inch display that offers Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution, with Asus promising 'outstanding’ color reproduction, no less. You’ll certainly get wide viewing angles, allowing everyone to see those aforementioned presentations clearly, because this is an IPS panel.

Nice and neat

Maintaining the streamlined vibe when it comes to hooking the screen up to a notebook, only a single USB cable is needed – this carries both power and video signal – and it supports USB Type-C connectors as well as older Type-A ports.

Asus provides DisplayWidget software which allows the screen to detect its orientation and automatically switch between landscape and portrait modes. The ZenScreen further benefits from a pair of eye-strain combating measures, namely flicker-free technology and a low-blue-light filter.

The portable monitor also has a foldable smart case to protect the screen when it’s in transit, and it can be used as a stand for when the display is in use, whether in portrait or landscape mode.

For the ability to bring your home or office dual-screen setup along with you, this is far from the worst way you could spend 250 clams.